The Victorian Ships' Graveyard was the official dumping ground for Melbourne's unwanted hulls: an unregulated 'outer Heads' area used from about 1900, and from 1932 the proclaimed Commonwealth Area No. 3, a 6 km circle about 10 km south-west of Barwon Heads in 40–60 m. More than 46 vessels were stripped, towed out through The Rip and sunk with gelignite between 1913 and 1971, and all are protected historic shipwrecks. Wills and her sister Burke were Australian-built: iron steam hopper barges of 345 tons gross, 39 m (128 ft) long, constructed in Adelaide in 1884 for the Melbourne Harbour Trust and named, like the Batman and Fawkner of the previous year, for figures from Victoria's founding story – in this case the doomed explorers.

For nearly fifty years they carried dredge spoil from the Yarra and the bay channels out to the spoil grounds. In November 1934 the Trust offered five hopper barges for sale as scrap – Burke, Wills, Batman, Fawkner and H.C. Piggot – and, finding no buyers worth the name, scuttled all five in the Graveyard within six months: Wills went down on 22 August 1935, a month before Burke.

The Wills lies in about 55 m in the central-western part of the field, 1.2 km from the H.C. Piggot. Little has been published about the wreck itself.

By analogy with her better-known sisters, divers should expect a compact iron hull with bow and stern standing, an open hopper amidships with its strongback, and a boiler and engine aft, coated in the sponges and zoanthids of the western Graveyard and sheltering ling, bullseyes and crayfish. Visibility here, well clear of the Barwon plume, is usually 10–20 m on a settled day. At 55 m she is a trimix dive with a substantial decompression obligation for a small barge, which is why she is among the least-dived of the hopper group; the Batman and Fawkner offer the same experience 10 m shallower.

She suits technical divers completing the Graveyard set or wanting a straightforward 55 m hull for rebreather practice, and any well-documented dive would usefully fill a gap in the published record.

Boat only. The western end of the Ships' Graveyard sits 8–12 km south of Barwon Heads and is normally reached from Queenscliff Harbour (Red Boats, Dive Victoria Group technical charters) – a 40–60 minute run out through The Rip and west along the Bellarine coast – or occasionally from the Barwon Heads river ramp in a small boat when the bar is flat. Drive Melbourne–Queenscliff via the Geelong Ring Road and Bellarine Highway (about 1 h 40 min).

Technical charters usually load at the harbour before dawn to get the wreck dived before the afternoon sea breeze. Private boats need a reliable sounder and the published GPS marks, as nothing shows on the surface.

Fully exposed Bass Strait. South-westerly swell is the killer: most charters will not run on a forecast over about 1.5 m, and anything from the south or west over 2 m makes the site undiveable and the passage through The Rip dangerous. Northerly and north-easterly winds flatten the sea; a calm morning after several settled days gives the best visibility (often 15–25 m in autumn and winter).

Surge is felt on the wreck in any swell over 1 m. Tidal streams outside The Heads are weaker than inside but still run; charters aim for slack water at Port Phillip Heads or a favourable tide for the transit. Winter westerlies close the site for weeks at a time.

The wreck sits in or near the shipping approach and pilot boarding ground, so a shot line, surface cover and a delayed SMB are mandatory.

Shot amidships and run the 39 m hull bow to stern and back at 52–55 m, checking the hopper and the boiler/engine position aft; 20 minutes is ample. Ascend the shot with 35–45 minutes of decompression.

Technical (decompression) dive. Trimix only (18/45 or 15/55) with EAN50 and oxygen deco; a 20 min bottom time typically needs 45–60 min of staged decompression. CCR-friendly with a bailout plan sized for the full ascent.

Drop a weighted shot on the wreck, use a delayed SMB from the wreck or a decompression trapeze under the boat; the site is in a shipping approach so free-drifting deco is discouraged.

No scheduled recreational charters. Red Boats (Queenscliff), Dive Victoria Group and Bay City Charters' technical boat run deep Graveyard charters on request or a few times a season for Melbourne technical clubs (Divernet 2024 also names Chimney Rock Charters and Scubabo); otherwise private technical boats only. Expect the wreck to see only a handful of dives a year.